Nirvana Members Open To More "Reunion" Performances

by Joel

Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic are cautiously leaving the door open for more Nirvana "reunion" performances. Let's take a look back at those moments to date.

The biggest of these performances happened a few weeks ago when Foo Fighters headlined Cal Jam 18. Grohl's Foos, Joan Jett, and Nirvana's social media all teased that something cool was going to happen; and the spectacle was very well received! Grohl, Novoselic, and late-period Nirvana guitarist Pat Smear once again joined forces with several guest singers to play Nirvana's music live.

The newest issue of Kerrang! features a long interview with Dave and Krist. They agree about possibly doing more as long as they don't "become a whole circus". Grohl admits, "It's very complicated and very special" but if it were to take place, it would have to happen "naturally." Novoselic loved getting back on the stage and playing their old songs again, but stresses that it will not become a "regular thing." (Kerrang! hasn't posted the full interview yet since they want people to buy the magazine, but they tease the piece here.)

Would a tour of all-star singers backed by Dave, Krist, and Pat count as "natural"? Because I'd be all about it.

While we wait, shall we remember previous Nirvana "reunions"?

Foo Fighters"I Should Have Known"

A lot of Nirvana history came together on Foo Fighters' 2011 full-length. Butch Vig (who produced Nirvana's legendary Nevermind) helmed the album recorded completely analog in Dave Grohl's garage. Pat Smear returned to Foos a few years prior, with Wasting Light being his first full album since rejoining. Dave invited Krist to play bass and accordion on this track. Sessions for this record also helped inspire the Foo Fighters film Back And Forth and Grohl's ensuing documentary work. For what it's worth, Wasting Light is my personal favorite Foo Fighters record. It also won a Best Rock Album trophy at the 2012 Grammy Awards.

Foo Fighters I Should Have Known (c) (C) 2011 Roswell Records, Inc. under license to RCA Records, a unit of Sony Music Entertainment

Paul McCartney and the Sound City Players "Cut Me Some Slack"

After Back And Forth Grohl again flexed his documentarian muscles with Sound City, chronicling the now-shuttered legendary Los Angeles recording complex. Grohl recruited an all-star lineup of singers and musicians for the Sound City: Real to Reel soundtrack including Paul McCartney of The Beatles teaming with Nirvana's surviving members. "Cut Me Some Slack" made its debut at the Hurricane Sandy relief concert in 2012. The quartet played together a couple of times over the next year.

Sir Paul McCartney and a reunited Nirvana debut their song Cut Me Some Slack at concert raising money for the victims of Superstorm Sandy.

Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame 2014 Induction Ceremony & St. Vitus set

Prior to this spring evening in NYC, the surviving Nirvana members had yet to play any of their own music in public. This finally changed when the Rock Hall inducted the late Kurt Cobain and his bandmates in 2014. An all-star cast including Joan Jett, Lorde, St. Vincent, and Kim Gordon (Sonic Youth) fronted the band during the taped telecast. Later that evening, J. Mascis (Dinosaur Jr.) and John McCauley (Deer Tick) joined everyone (except for Lorde) at Brooklyn dive bar St. Vitus for what is still the only post-Cobain full concert set of Nirvana tunes to date.

At record mogul Clive Davis' 2016 Grammy Awards pre-party, Beck and the surviving members hopped on-stage together and ran through "The Man Who Sold The World". Of course, Kurt and the Nirvana guys famously covered the David Bowie track during their legendary 1993 performance captured on MTV Unplugged In New York.

Nirvana with Beck doing The Man Who Sold The World @ Clive Davis' pre-Grammy Awards party

Cal Jam 18

The Foo Fighters-led festival a few weeks ago was the first time a Nirvana "reunion" set was realistically accessible to us regular folks. It was not billed in advance; but between the Foos, Joan Jett, and Krist Novoselic's band Giants In The Trees all sharing a bill fans should have known something might happen. And I gotta say, although Kurt Cobain is irreplaceable, John McCauley does a solid job up there. He handles the first three songs before giving way to Joan Jett for the last three.